Pharma Marketletter articles from June 2009

Pharma Marketletter archives from June 2009

French think-tank warns over UK model.(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... A French think-tank has published a report examining the potentially "perverse effects" of adopting UK-style health care financing policies in France under the "loi Bachelot," a reform package currently under discussion by the National...

MRC/NICE's methodology research program.(Medical Research Council)(National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence)
June 8, 2009... The UK's Medical Research Council has issued a GBP2.0-million ($3.3 million) call for proposals in methodology research in collaboration with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which recommends medical treatment...

SkyePharma files Flutiform NDA with FDA.(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... SkyePharma's New Drug Application for its lead product, Flutiform (fluticasone propionate/formoterol fumarate), in the treatment of persistent asthma, has been accepted for review by the US Food and Drug Administration.a Following the...

Fresenius licenses HES platform to Bayer.(Bayer Schering Pharma )(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Germany's Fresenius Kabi has licensed its HESylation Technology platform, based on hydroxyethyl starch to allow the prolongation of the active half-life of proteins, to Bayer Schering Pharma in a limited field of use. Under the agreement,...

Almirall opens new UK office in London.(Laboratorios Almirall S.A.)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Spain's largest drugmaker, Laboratorios Almirall, has opened a new UK and Ireland office in the Stockley Park area of West London. 50 staff will work from the office across the firm's range of 14 products, under the jurisdiction of general...

UPDATE: Bayer completes deal to transfer three oncology drugs to Genzyme.(Bayer HealthCare AG)
June 8, 2009... German drug major Bayer HealthCare and USA-based biotechnology group Genzyme have received regulatory approval for the strategic alliance announced earlier this year, and the legal closing of the transaction - transferring certain compounds...

New US guidance on DTC drug ads.(direct-to-consumer )(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... The US Food and Drug Administration has published non-mandatory new draft guidance on direct-to-consumer drug advertising, which includes criticism of distracting images or music. Other elements of the document issued by the agency's Center...

Wound management is growing market, says F&S report.(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... The advanced wound management market in Europe is experiencing high growth due to the heightened need for better and more cost-effective treatment, despite intense competition and low reimbursement, according to a new analysis from Frost &...

Salix' Apriso shows strong safety data at DDW.(Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Data demonstrating that USA-based Salix Pharmaceuticals' Apriso (mesalamine) 0.375g extended-release capsules had a favorable safety profile in patients in remission from ulcerative colitis for up to 24 months, was presented at the Digestive...

Bayer reports further riociguat data at ATS.(Bayer Schering Pharma)(American Thoracic Society )
June 8, 2009... Positive data from a Phase II trial with German drug major Bayer Schering Pharma's oral agent riociguat in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary arterial hypertension were presented at the American Thoracic Society...

Vernalis updates investors on outlook.(Vernalis Group PLC)(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... The UK's Vernalis has published its interim management statement for the period from January to June 2009. On May 29, Vernalis announced that marketing approval for frovatriptan had been received in South Korea. Frovatriptan will be...

AEC Partners surveys drug R&D view of France.(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... AEC Partners, a Paris, France-based health care consultancy which boasts as one of its senior partners Francois Sarkozy, brother of the country's President Nicolas Sarkozy, has been commissioned by the research-based drugmakers' group, the...

PPA web helps publicize US state health programs.(Partnership for Prescription Assistance )(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Recognizing that many uninsured Americans may have difficulty accessing information about available public programs that provide health insurance coverage, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance web site now features a new resource to help...

Stock Commentary - Europe - week to June 1, 2009.(Brief article)(Statistical data)
June 8, 2009... EUROPEAN: bourses were mostly higher, but not as strong as their New York counterparts, in the reporting period to June 1, with particularly strong spurts for FRANKFURT and PARIS on the last day. Sanofi-Aventis just outperformed the latter...

MDS to sell late-stage operations to INC Research.(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Canadian health sciences company MDS has begun its previously- announced refocusing of its pharmaceuitcal services division with the sale of part of its late-stage development operations to INC Research. The deal, which was announced on June 1,...

Pierrel buys Encorium and Farma Resa.(Brief article)
June 8, 2009... Pierrel, an Italian contract research organization, has signed two separate deals to bolster its capabilities. The firm has offered to buy the US contract research activities of troubled US firm Encorium, which suffered a 14.5% decline in 2008...